A walk on the Long Mynd

Cardingmill Valley

Cardingmill Valley

Townbrook Hollow

Cardingmill Valley

The Long Mynd

Ruins, Rectory Wood

Yesterday I went for a walk up the Longmynd with a friend (and a dog).  We started in Cardingmill Valley in Church Stretton and walked a long loop up which took us to the end of the valley, up on the moor on the top of the hill, to the highest point at Pole Bank – 516 m (1,693 ft) – and then down again via a parallel valley. Then we had jacket potatoes in the Cardingmill Valley café, which I felt we had earned (It was a very late lunch – nearly 4pm!).  We had missed the nice weather, and it was cold and grey, but warm enough once you got moving.

I didn’t measure the route beforehand, guessing about 5 miles, but it turned out to be nearly 9 miles. It would have been 7 miles, but for an unplanned detour – ie, took the wrong turning.  We took a planned detour on the return leg of the walk, through the old rectory wood. The walk took us almost exactly 4 hours.

This was, of course, a fine opportunity for photography. After long deliberation – a couple of hours, at least – I decided which of my 20-odd cameras to bring.  I took my Fuji XF1 and my new camera, a Voigtlander Bessa (1946 version, loaded with Fuji Neopan Acros 100 B&W). I won’t get the Bessa negatives back for a week, which is one reason I took the Fuji.

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Pinhole Photography (early attempts)

One of my more recent camera purchases has a neat feature: you can take the lens off and use it as a pinhole camera. Photos taken like this have a dreamy look to them, or sometimes surreal.  These are my first shots to be developed (apart from 2 on a previous roll that didn’t come out that well).

Flooded Park #1

These were taken in the Quarry Park in Shrewsbury, where the river Severn has burst its banks.

Flooded Park #2

I get confused sometimes which shots were pinhole and which were normal, as I can change from shot to shot with this camera. Generally the focus on shots taken with the lens look sharper, but I can’t always tell…

1st Roll taken with Gakkenflex Recesky

I was worried about how these shots were going to come out. For a start, the Recesky (or Gakkenflex) is a plastic camera I assembled myself, plus there is almost nothing you can adjust on it. The focus can be moved a little, but it is quite difficult to tell what effect you are having.

As it was, it wasn’t so bad. There are a couple that were taken in too-dark light conditions and have hardly come out at all. The rest of them are ok, considering. I can’t wait until we get some actual sunshine, I’m sure I’ll get better photos then.

Arch in The Quarry Park

Porthill Bridge, Twice

Kingsland Bridge

The Bandstand

Many Trees

Rowley’s House

It can be a bit of a pain getting what you want in the viewfinder, the image is left-right inverted. It can get very confusing. I can’t wait until there is some regular sunlight, I’m sure the quality will improve…

I am really enjoying this film camera lark.

A Good-looking Camera

I have decided I need a new camera. My old Fuji seems to have died after number of years of excellent service. It was ‘only’ 8megapixels, but I got loads of really good shots with it. I am most  likely camping/beaching with my friends this summer, so I’ll need one by then.

I know there’s a camera on my mobile phone¹, but a dedicated camera will be better than a mobile phone². So, I am on the lookout.

But after a couple of hours looking a review pages of just 3 cameras I am tearing my hair out trying to make sense of the technical specifications and everyone’s conflicting opinions of image quality and so on . So I think in the end my choice will come down to which is the best looking camera.

¹ My old-old Nokia N73 still works, and I have taken some brilliant shots with that. I could use it without a SIM I guess.

² Cameras are designed to be held while photos are taken, phones are designed to look sleek, which can be a problem.